DJs in the '60s would never survive today's ratings

KOST/103.5 FM's Mark Wallengren and Kristin Cruz were No. 1 overall and in the age 25-54 demographic in the Holiday ratings from Arbitron. The measurements are recorded by Portable People Meters or PPMs and have changed the analysis on how people listen to the radio.PHOTO COURTESY KOST

Last week's column on Dave Hull and the free-form fun our disc jockeys had in the '60s and '70s reminded a lot of us how much radio has changed.. Yes, morning radio personalities – Mark and Kristin, Kevin & Bean, Ryan Seacrest,etc. – still entertain us, for example, but the structure is now predictable. You know exactly when the music or comedy stops and the commercials start.

Why is that? Blame it on the ratings. Back in the day, listeners kept written diaries logging their favorite shows. Imprecise perhaps, but it was an accepted measurement.

And then came the Portable People Meter or PPM. An electronic measurement developed by Arbitron "to measure how many people are listening (or at least exposed) to individual radio stations." But you may ask exactly how does it work, and did it impact – many say negatively - the spontaneity and fun of local personality radio?

Jeff McKay, a special correspondent for www.RadioInfo.com, wrote a lengthy multi-part essay on the PPM. A small portion of it here helps one understand how these PPMs determine what you hear on the radio:

"Ask any long-time disc jockey or veteran program director, and they will tell you that two big changes have come along in the past 10-15 years that have had a profound impact on the job of the disc jockey – and ownership rules isn't one of them.

"Radio has always been immediate. A DJ with a 'face for radio' could 'rip and read' a headline or give the listener a report, simply by taking two seconds to fade down a song. While a ratings diary could give you a broad sample of what a listener writes that they listen to, the PPM instead registers exactly – down to the minute and second – what a listener is actually hearing. No longer can you just tell that someone is listening between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. – now you know that they tuned out at 4:02 p.m. and went to another radio station to listen to a traffic report.

"The acknowledgment of the PPMs has completely changed the way a disc jockey approaches his or her show. Breaks are shorter, talk is measured in 'word economy,' and even the need to follow the time-aged rule of always giving the radio station call letters is no longer necessary – since the PPM can't hear the station's name – it can only measure its signal.

"Former KOST-FM Los Angeles program director Stella Prado tells RadioInfo, 'Keeping it short and sweet, with the ratings system that we use now called Portable People Meter, we have noticed that our disc jockeys have to make their breaks super-quick, get to the point, and get out. So our audience is there for the music.

"There was a time when the 'Top 40' format was ruled by legends such as Casey Kasem, or Wolfman Jack, and others who were known for both playing the hits and 'talking to you.' That, of course was in the age of ratings diaries. Now with PPMs, as Prado says, it is all about the music, commercials and the format.

"While the veteran programmer such as Prado adapts programming to work within the confines of the PPM, a disc jockey such as John 'Records' Landecker does too, but certainly not to the same degree. The evening DJ on Chicago's legendary heritage WLS-FM, Landecker can talk between songs for as long as 15-20 seconds at times, an eternity for some DJs depending on format and how the PPMs are used.

"While on oldies stations, personalities can come through and be the co-star with the music, on CHR, hot adult contemporary, dance, rhythmic, and others, the DJ is no longer the co-star, merely a bridge between songs.

"They love the jocks because it is familiar and it's family to them, but they don't want a long break. They want them to back-sell the song, a quick time, a quick little short story and go straight into the commercials," adds Prado.

"The PPMs have changed everything. They are the perfect storm to eliminate clutter on the radio dial," says Landecker.

NEW KFI SHOW

Actor, "Dancing with the Stars" winner, motivational speaker and retired U.S. Army soldier J.R. Martinez is the new Sunday evening talk host on KFI/640 AM. He's on 6-9 p.m., replacing David Cruz, who returned to "focus on his new expanded four-hour program that airs Monday through Friday on sister station KTLK AM 1150," the station announced. More information: www.kfiam640.com.

KOST/103.5 FM's Mark Wallengren and Kristin Cruz were No. 1 overall and in the age 25-54 demographic in the Holiday ratings from Arbitron. The measurements are recorded by Portable People Meters or PPMs and have changed the analysis on how people listen to the radio. PHOTO COURTESY KOST
KROQ/106.7 FM's Kevin and Bean were No. 1 in the age 18-34 demographic in the Holiday ratings from Arbitron. The measurements are recorded by Portable People Meters or PPMs and have changed the analysis on how people listen to the radio. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
KNX/1070 AM morning news anchors Vicky Moore and Dick Helton with "Blackie" at ExplorOcean. The all-news station was in Orange County recently for a day-long "On Your Corner" segment from the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum.
KNX-AM's Dick Helton, left, and Vicky Moore, right, chat with ExplorOcean's Tom Pollack about the museum's expansion plans. The all-news station was in Orange County recently for a day-long "On Your Corner" segment.
KNX-AM anchors Vicky Moore, left, and Dick Helton with ExplorOcean president Rita Stenlund. The all-news station was in Newport Harbor recently for a day-long "On Your Corner" segment.
Frank Mottek, host of the KNX/1070 AM Business Hour, left, with Lucetta Dunn, President and CEO of the Orange County Business Council, and Newport Beach Mayor Keith Curry. The all-news station was in Orange County recently for a day-long "On Your Corner" remote from the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum.
Newport Beach Mayor Keith Curry appears on the KNX Business Hour. The all-news station was in Orange County for a day-long "On Your Corner" segment..
KNX/1070 AM afternoon news anchors Diane Thompson and Chris Sedens outside ExplorOcean, the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum. The all-news station was in Orange County recently for a day-long "On Your Corner" segment..
KNX /1070 AM sports anchor Joe Cala has been inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame. According to KNX, Cala "has spent the past six years of his nearly four decade sportscasting career at KNX 1070. He spent 32 years doing sports at KFWB prior to joining KNX."

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